Improved safety-shoe for railway-car truck



J. S. CRARY. Safety` Shoe for Car Truck.

Patented Aug. 9, 1870.

No.A 106,258.v

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

JOHN S. ORARY, OF SALEM, NEW YORK.

IMPROVED SAFETY-SHOE FOR RAILWAY-CAR TRUCK.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 106,258, dated August9, 1870.

To all 'whom fit may concern Be it known that I, JOHN S. CRARY, ofSalem, in the county of Washington and State of New York, have inventedcertain Improvements in Railroad-Gars, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

My invention consists in attaching to the truck or frame of a car orlocomotive one or more pairs of safety-shoes of peculiar construction,to prevent accidents or injury in case the car is thrown off the rails,and to assist in replacing it, as hereinafter more fully explained.

Figure l is a side view of a car-truck with my improvement appliedthereto. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 lare views of the shoe detached, and more indetail. y

My improvement is more especially intended for locomotives and tenders,though it may, if desired, be applied to other cars also.

In the drawing, A represents the frame or truck, which may be made inany suitable manner. To the sides of the truck, directly over the rail,I attach the safety-shoe B, which consists of a strong metallic standardwidened transversely near its lower end, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, itsunder surface being hollowed out transversely, as represented in Fig. 2,and having its front and rear edge rounded or curved upward from thecenter, as shown in Fig. 4.

The tread of the shoe should be about three times the width of the treadof the wheel, and its surface may be inclined equally each way from thecenter, though I prefer to make it as shown.

By an examination of Fig. 2 it will be observed that the portion of theunder surface of the shoe marked c, extending from the outer liange oredge into the center, is considerably inclined, while the inner half(marked a) is of a form transversely corresponding to the tread of anordinary car-wheel, the object of which will be hereinafter explained.

There is a mortise extending vertically through the body of the shoe B,in which is inserted a plate, C, this plate being provided with a slotnear its upper end, through which a bolt, D, passes, as shown in Fig. 4,to hold the plate in place.

A set-screw, e, is inserted in the side of the body of the shoe, in sucha position as to impinge upon or press against the edge of the plate G,to hold it up in the shoe and out of the way when not needed for use.

A large screw, E, is located directly over the upper end of the plate C,in such a position that when it is screwed down upon the upper end ofthe plate the latter will be forced down and caused to protrude belowthe bottom of the shoe.

With one or more pairs of these shoes attached to the truck theoperation is as follows: In case the wheels near them leave the railsthat end of the truck will at once tend to drop down, and in so doingthe shoes will be brought to bear on the rails, the first eect of whichwill be to act as a brake to retard the forward motion of the car. Atthe same time the inclined surface c of the shoe on the opposite sidewill have a tendency to cause the car to slide back to its position onthe track. When the car has ceased to move, the screws E are turneddown, thereby forcing out the plates (l at the bottom, the end of thetruck being thereby raised and supported on the plates which rest on therails. When thus supported the inclined surface c of the plate will tendto throw or cause the car to slide over to its position on the track assoon as the wheels are raised so that their lian ges will clear therails. When the car is replaced the plates C are raised to theiroriginal position in the shoe, and are secured in place by the set-screwe, as before.

It will be apparent that by locating the shoes but a little above thetrack, whenever -they rest on the rails, the wheels near them will beheld up, so as to prevent their coming in contact with the cross-ties orother parts of the superstructure, and by this means both the cars andthe track will be saved from injury to a much greater extent than wouldotherwise be the case.

There may be any number of the shoes used, and they may be applied atany point on the truck, so they rest over the rails. The mostappropriate location for them, however, would seem to be near the endsof the car, as shown in Fig. 1.

Having thus described my invention7 what I claim isl. The shoe B, withits under surface, from the center outward, inclined, as shown at c anda, substantially es and for the purpose set forth.

2. The adjustable plate C, arranged to slide vertically in the s11oe,iucombination with the screw E, when arranged to operate substantially asdescribed.

JOHN S. GRARY. Vitnesses M. FAmoi-HLD, u B. F. BANCROFT.

